Portland Journal; A Lonely Law Enforcer Pursues New Violator

By TIMOTHY EGAN, Special to The New York Times

Published: May 9, 1990

PORTLAND, Ore., May 3—
Lee Barrett walked into a nightclub looking for evidence. Earlier, someone had filed a report -anonymously, of course - that the club, Starry Night, was breaking the law. Mr. Barrett's job was to investigate and, if needed, take swift action.

Looking around the busy club, he searched for what the informer had reported: polystyrene foam, a petroleum-based product, with 25 percent or more air content, sometimes made with chlorofluorocarbons that can damage the earth's ozone layer.

Since the first of the year, all restaurants and retail food vendors in the city of Portland are prohibited from using the plastic foam.

''You're clean,'' Mr. Barrett told the manager.

So it goes on the beat for Mr. Barrett, whom Portland residents have nicknamed the ''Styro-Cop.'' The movies had it wrong. The patrolman of the future may not be a robot but an officer walking an environmental beat.

Although Mr. Barrett, an intense former New Yorker, does not like the term ''Styro-Cop,'' he has become such a presence here that Portland police officers have offered to give him a polystyrene police badge.

He is not an officer of the law. He is a contract employee for the City of Portland. But as he makes his rounds from mini-marts to McDonald's restaurants, from nightclubs to Safeways, he does so with the power to issue citations for civil penalties, and they can cost violators $250 for a first offense and $500 for a repeat violation.

''My nickname is Barracuda - the rude 'cude from New York,'' he said. ''I'm not afraid of what anybody's going to say to me.''

In fact, with a few exceptions, he has been greeted warmly. The nightclub manager said he was all for banning plastic foam. Earlier, at breakfast in a working man's cafe, the owner proudly showed Mr. Barrett how she had converted to using ceramic coffee cups, which are washed and reused rather than filling her garbage with a product that bloats landfills.

When Portland passed the ban last year, joining a handful of cities around the nation that have outlawed the use of polystyrene foam as food containers, they also came up with money to pay for an enforcement officer. Mr. Barrett says he is the nation's only ''Styro-Cop.''

City officials say polystyrene foam is not biodegradable, is a major source of litter, takes up space in landfills, is difficult to recycle and can break into small pieces that kill birds that eat them, either quickly or by slow starvation. Certain chlorofluorocarbons used in the manufacture of foam products can damage the earth's ozone layer, allowing more damaging unfiltered sunlight, scientists say. About 4,500 tons of polystyrene foam were taken to Portland landfills last year.

The law has met stiff resistance from such fast food retailers as McDonald's, which relies on the foam to keep hamburgers and drinks warm.

Arguing that it was starting to recycle plastic foam, McDonald's and 13 other plaintiffs, including plastics manufacturers, filed suit against the city seeking to block the law. The case was dismissed by a county court judge, but the plaintiffs have appealed.

''We didn't say please let us use polystyrene foam in any circumstances,'' said Barbee Lyon, a lawyer for McDonald's. ''We're saying that if a restaurant is recyling, you can't ban the product.''

The giant burger chain has become a consistent adversary of Mr. Barrett's as he roots out violators of the new law. But McDonald's welcomed him in one recent inspection, and sure enough, he found not a single offending piece. Mr. Barrett said McDonald's had shipped all its polystyrene foam products to outlets outside the city and was using paper cups and containers.

When he first came to Oregon in the 1970's, Mr. Barrett was impressed by the state's innovative environmental laws, including a bottle recyling bill. The polystyrene foam ban is part of that tradition, he said.

In the four months he has been on the job, Mr. Barrett has worn down a considerable amount of shoe leather, inspecting 140 establishments, and writing up 6 for violations. The job is not boring, Mr. Barrett said, because he is quite passionate about his dislike for polystyrene foam.

''To use plastic to drink eight ounces of coffee for two minutes and then throw it away where it will take up space forever is absurd,'' he said.